Around 600,000 violators left the kingdom during the first four months of the amnesty.

The ministry will begin inspections from November 15 to capture foreign violators of residence and labour laws.

It called on citizens and residents to not hide, shelter, transport or support violators. Those found engaging in any of these activities will face penalties.

In a separate report, Arabic newspaper Al-Watan cited statistics from the General Organisation of Social Insurance as confirming 302,473 expats had left the labour market in the first nine months of the year.

Many expatriates have seen job opportunities diminish in the kingdom as economic pressures and a drive to limit some roles to Saudi citizens takes it toll.

Last year, tens of thousands of foreign construction workers were also left jobless after a slowdown in the sector and delayed government payments hit companies like Saudi Oger and Saudi Binladin, leading to the closure of the former.